Correction to Last Post/Family History Lesson

 After I published my latest post about our second trip to the Children's Museum, my mother pointed out something I failed to correct; and I figured just editing that last post was not enough, and it needed a post all of its own.

 I mentioned how we were related to Captain Kidd, but I was wrong. My family is NOT related to Capt. Kidd, but we DO have relatives who had a run-in with him.

 Mary King, an ancestor on my mom's side, married a Mr. John Gardiner, Third Lord of the Manor of the Isle of Wight (aka Gardiner's Island).
 One day in 1699, Capt. Kidd and his crew landed on Gardiner's Island, buried booty that they pillaged, and threatened John Gardiner that it remained undisturbed or he would lose his life.

 The account in our family's history book went on to explain: "The British government learned of the treasure and called Gardiner to Boston to explain. While he was gone, Captain Kidd returned to the island and ordered John's wife, Mary, to prepare a meal for him. She was so afraid that she dared not refuse and prepared a feast which pleased Kidd so much that he gave Mary some fine gold cloth and other presents. Some time later, Captain Kidd was captured by the British government, taken (to) England and hanged. Kidd's treasure, claimed by the British government, was turned over in its entirety by Gardiner."

 So folks, there you have it. Our 15 minutes of "fame", haha.

Book Review- "Life in Spite of Me"

"Life in Spite of Me" is a moving story of a young woman, Kristen Anderson, who threw herself onto the train tracks one cold night, hoping to end all of her pain.

 As thirty-three freight cars sliced through her body, Kristen welcomed death; but God had other plans.

 Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers, I was able to join Kristen through her physical -and spiritual- pain as she struggled to face life and to find the answers for which she was searching.

 I recommend this book to any person- siblings, parents, pastors, teachers, etc. It may help you to help others that are in Kristen's place, and maybe even help yourself.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/view/4883

Children's Museum Fun (Long post)

  Ok, I just have to express my thanks for my older sister's thoughtful Christmas gift that she and her husband gave to my family this past December: an annual family pass to the Children's Museum!!!!

 (For those of you whom have never been there, or don't know even what it is, you are living in a sick world! :) Ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic...maybe.)

 Anyways it's this AWESOME musem that (as the name suggests) is children focused. It has MANY interactive exhibts (ranging from the Maze of Mirrors to the Waterworks to many more) and it seems that they always have something new! It is such a blast and my family and I always have fun when we go there.

 I have so many memories that I made there with my family such as sitting on the dinosaur, telling time on the water clock and even getting in trouble for throwing fake, squishy rocks at my Granny (they were, honest!) to be funny, or sticking my tongue out at my Grandma and Grandpa-again to be funny. (Mom didn't think it was. Lol : )

 Anyways, the last time I was there was YEARS ago, so when I found out that my sister was buying a family pass, I was UBER excited, hardly able to restrain from jumping up and down! When we finally opened up the envelope for Christmas that contained our passes, I was WAY more excited than my younger siblings, I think!

 So on Tuesday of last week my family and I went to the Museum after we finished school...and boy was it worth the wait!!!! Check out the pictures below!




Glass Art



 





 



This is a real train! They actually built the walls up around it!



Watch your head!



Sister #7 showing Mom her "tickets" upon boarding the train!





 

And of course we had to visit the Barbie exhibit, right?



 



Swarovski covered Barbie in crystals for her 50th anniversary!



Sisters # 5,6, & 7 had fun "designing" outfits for Barbie.






Notice how the boys are "strangely" missing in these pictures?

 Then, we went to Egypt...



where Mama wrestled an alligator...with help from S#7.




Messing around before our "flight" to Europe...

 


 




 









...where we saw a famous face.

 





The Frenchman who wore this jacket survived several concentration camps.







Each butterfly represents 5,000 Jewish children who died during the Holocaust.




Carousel Wishes and Dreams

 

 

Just Some Christmas Family Pictures

Well, here are some pictures from Christmas and as you can tell, my family and I had a GREAT time! (If you want a bit more of an explanation, check out my mom's blog here.)

Thanksgiving Pictures

Here is some of my family on Thanksgiving day; but unfortunately, not everyone was there.  :(

Just a few of us girls...

...and a few of the boys!

But, we had a good time, anyway. Thank God for my family!